Urban Transportation Policy

President Donald Trump used a new Truth Social post to call New York City’s Manhattan congestion pricing program a 'DISASTER for New York' and demanded it be 'ended, IMMEDIATELY,' renewing his long‑running fight with state and city leaders over the policy. New York’s congestion pricing, launched in January 2025, uses electronic license plate readers to charge most drivers about $9 during peak hours to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, both to cut traffic and raise money for mass transit. City officials say traffic in the zone is down roughly 8–13% since the tolls began, and Gov. Kathy Hochul marked the program’s one‑year anniversary on Jan. 5 by touting it as a success that has quieted much of the early opposition. Trump previously tried and failed to kill the program and threatened to withhold federal funds if New York did not abandon it, part of a broader second‑term pattern of the White House using funding threats to force policy changes in Democratic‑run jurisdictions. The clash underscores a larger national debate over whether to use road pricing to manage congestion and fund transit in major U.S. cities and how far a president can go in trying to override state and local transportation policy.